Cooling arrangement for a converter vessel wall

ABSTRACT

A metallic converter vessel wall is cooled by panels disposed side-by-side on the wall and in direct contact therewith. Each panel is individually fixed to the wall in a manner which does not impede the expansion of the wall.

United States Patent [19.1

Menu Mar. 26, 1974 COOLING ARRANGEMENT FOR A 3.687.436 8/1972 Wortman266/35 CONVERTER S L WALL 3,304,075 2/ 1967 Puxkandl 3,381,951 5/1968Gaines et al 266/36 P [75] Inventor: Edouard Menu, Versailles, France[73] Assignee: Fives-Lille-Cail, Paris, France 4 I PrimaryExaminer-Gerald A. Dost [22] Flled: July 1972 Attorney, Agent, orFirm--Kurt Kelman [2]] Appl. No.1 268,470

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 5, 1971 France 71.24409 [57]ABSTRACT [52] U.S. C1. 266/35 A metallic Converter vessel Wall is Cooledy Panels 51 Int. Cl C2lc 5/46 disposed yon the wall and in directContact 58 Field of Search... 266/27, 35, 36 P therewith Each panel isindividually fixed to h ll in a manner which does not impede theexpansion of References Cited the wall.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,193,272 7/1965 Kramer et a1. 266/36 P 6 Claims,7 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDHARZS 1914 3; 799' 524 sum 1 or 2 FIG. 2

COOLING ARRANGEMENT FOR A CONVERTER VESSEL WALL The present inventionrelates toconverters for making steel which are constituted essentiallyby a cylindrical vessel whose metallic wall has an interior refractorylining and which is supported by two diametrically opposed trunnionspermitting the vessel to be pivoted about a horizontal axis. The vesselwall is generally of a carbon steel making it possible to effectuatenecessary soldering at assembly or for on-site repairs, withoutrequiring special operat ing conditions. Therefore, its temperatureduring operation must be limited to about 300C. to 350C. to avoiddamage.

However, the vessel wall is heated during operations by heat radiationfrom hot gases, pockets of steel and slag, and jets of metal. This heatradiation not only raises the temperature of the vessel wall but alsocauses dissymetries in the temperature of the wall which cause localdeformations, particularly near the nose of the converter vessel and inthe regions adjacent the output port.

In addition, the metal wall. of the vessel is heated through therefractory lining by the heat emanating from the molten metal in thevessel. The amout of this heat depends on the thickness of theliningwhich, in turn, is a function of its wear.

Therefore, it is necessary not only to shield the vessel wall from theradiated heat but also to cool it so as to remove the heat coming fromthe metal melt.

It has been proposed to effectuate cooling by air or water circulation.Air cooling is generally not efficient enough. Water cooling requireshuge amounts of water because of the heavy losses through evaporationand,

furthermore, involves dangers of explosion by acciden tial entry ofwater into the vessel. This latter danger exists particularly in casethe cooling water is circulated through tubes soldered to the wall sincethe latter may burst because of different expansion occurring atdifferent points of the wall.

The primary object of this invention is to overcome the disadvantages inthe conventional cooling arrangements for converter vessel walls.

According to the invention, the cooling arrangement for a convertervessel wall is constituted essentially by cooled panels disposedside-by-side on the converter vessel wall and in direct contacttherewith, each panel being individually fixed to the wall in a mannerwhich does not impede the expansion of the wall.

The panels may be constituted by tubes soldered to each other andholding a cooling fluid circulating therethrough, which cooling fluidmay be water, for example. Alternatively, the panels may be moldedhematite pig iron plates having embedded therein tubes through which thecooling fluid circulates. The panels may take the form of the vesselwall, i.e. they may conform thereto, or they may comprise little facesor facets soldered together. The panels may be arranged in a single rowor in several superposed rows.

Each panel has an inlet port and an outlet port for the cooling fluidwhich are connected to a common supply and collector, respectively.Preferably, the panels are connected in parallel series.

Cooling fluid flow regulation means, such as. calibrated orifices orvalves, are preferably provided to control the flow of cooling fluidthrough each panel.

The above and other features of the present invention will become moreapparent from the following detailed description of now preferredembodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingwherein FIG. 1 is a vertical section of a portion of a converter vesselwall with a cooling arrangement according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the converter vessel wall of FIG.1, viewed from the left of this figure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view showing the disposition of the coolingpanels on one half of the converter vessel wall, and the circulation ofthe cooling fluid through the panels;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of another embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates the mounting of the panels on the walls;

FIG. 6 is a partial side elevational view in the direction of arrow 6 ofFIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 3 in the arrangement of FIG. 4.

Referring now to the drawing, the metallic converter vessel wall 12 isshown lined with refractory lining 14 in FIG. 1. The vessel is supportedfor rotation about a horizontal axis on a support ring 1l6 which isengaged in the conventional manner by two diametrically opposedtrunnions (not shown).

The upper portion of the metallic vessel wall is covered by twosuperposed rows of cooling panels 26 and 28, each row having a dozenpanels in the illustrated embodiment. Of course, different numbers ofpanels may be used, generally depending on the size of the vessel.

As indicated hereinabove, each panel may consist of a molded or casthematite pig iron plate into which have been worked cooling channels,for instance tubes embedded in the pig iron mass, or of a multiplicityof tubes of circular or square cross section which are soldered togetherside-by-side.

The panels may be shaped in the form of a portion of a conical surfaceto conform to the shape of the vessel wall. However, they may alsocomprise flat narrow panel elements which are so soldered to each otherthat they form a portion of a pyramidal surface tangent to the conicalvessel wall along a plurality of generatrices.

The panels are in contact with the wall 12 and are individually fixedthereto by known means permitting the wall to expand freely in respectto the panels so as to avoid stresses on the panels by the expansion ofthe wall. Such stresses may cause the panels to rupture or break whentheir expansion differs from that of the wall. For instance, the panelsmay be mounted with play or loosely on pins soldered to the vessel wall.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vase of the lower row of panels 26 is angledaway from the vessel wall to form flap 30 for protecting the supportring 16.

Each panel has an inlet port and an outlet port for cooling fluid, forinstance water. These ports permit the fluid circulating channels in thecooling panels to be connected to semi-circular mains 22 and 24 whichsurround the vessel and are disposed below the lower row of panels andabove the upper row of panels.

One end of the four mains 22 is connected to a cooling fluid supplyconduit 18 passing through one of the trunnions, which is hollow.Similarly, the opposite end of the four mains 24 is connected to anoutlet conduit which passes through the other trunnion and is alsohollow. All the panels of a half row are arranged in parallel betweenthe mains to which they are connected. Calibrated orifices at theentrance of the cooling channels of each panel permit the equaldistribution of the cooling fluid flow through all the panels connectedto the same main. Valves may additionally be provided to regulate thecooling fluid flow through each individual panel ao that individualpanels may be replaced without interfering with the cooling fluidcirculation in the remainder of the arrangement.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 4 to 7, a single row of panels 40 is mountedon the converter vessel wall 12 with its refractory lining 14. Thevessel is again mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis on supportring 16'. The panels are of the same general construction as in theabove-described embodiment.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the panels are hung on the vessel wall bymeans of cotter pins 46 which are soldered to the wall. The cotter pinsare engaged in holes adjacent the upper corners of each panel, one ofthe holes being elongated to form a slot to permit the circumferentialexpansion of the vessel wall in respect of the panels. The outwardlybent base of the panels rests on support 48 which is integral with thevessel wall 12', fingers 50, which are soldered to the rear face of thepanel base, resiliently supporting the panels on this support. A playbetween the fingers and the support permits the axial expansion of thevessel wall in respect of the panels.

The inlet ports of the panels 40 are connected to supply mains 42receiving cooling fluid through inlet conduit 18' while the fluid isevacuated through outlet mains 44. All four mains form a semi-circle atthe base of the panels 42.

While the invention has been described and illustrated in connectionwith specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that manymodifications and variations may occur to those skilled inthe art,particularly after benefitting from the present teaching. withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of this invention as defined in theappended claims.

I claim: 1. A cooling arrangement for the external wall of a convertervessel, constituted essentially by cooled panels disposed side-by-sideon the converter vessel wall and in direct contact therewith, each panelbeing individually and detachably fixed to the wall in a manner whichdoes not impede the thermal expansion of the wall, the panels beingarranged in at least one row covering an annular portion of the wall,and a cooling fluid circulation system for circulating a cooling fluidthrough the interior of the panels.

2. The cooling arrangement of claim 1, wherein the panels are shaped toconform to the wall.

3. The cooling arrangement of claim 1, the converter vessel having anose and a support ring, the annular portion extending between thesupport ring and the nose of the vessel.

4. The cooling arrangement of claim 3, wherein the base of the panels inthe row adjacent the esupport ring form a protecting flap bent outwardlyfrom the vessel wall.

5. The cooling arrangement of claim 1, wherein the cooling fluidcirculation system comprises channels within each panel, a fluid inletport and a fluid outlet port in each panel, a cooling fluid supply mainconnected to the inlet ports, and a cooling fluid evacuation mainconnected to the outlet ports.

6. The cooling arrangement of claim 5, wherein the panels are connectedto the mains in parallel.

1. A cooling arrangement for the external wall of a converter vessel,constituted essentially by cooled panels disposed sideby-side on theconverter vessel wall and in direct contact therewith, each panel beingindividually and detachably fixed to the wall in a manner which does notimpede the thermal expansion of the wall, the panels being arranged inat least one row covering an annular portion of the wall, and a coolingfluid circulation system for circulating a cooling fluid through theinterior of the panels.
 2. The cooling arrangement of claim 1, whereinthe panels are shaped to conform to the wall.
 3. The cooling arrangementof claim 1, the converter vessel having a nose and a support ring, theannular portion extending between the support ring and the nose of thevessel.
 4. The cooling arrangement of claim 3, wherein the base of thepanels in the row adjacent the esupport ring form a protecting flap bentoutwardly from the vessel wall.
 5. The cooling arrangement of claim 1,wherein the cooling fluid circulation system comprises channels withineach panel, a fluid inlet port and a fluid outlet port in each panel, acooling fluid supply main connected to the inlet ports, and a coolingfluid evacuation main connected to the outlet ports.
 6. The coolingarrangement of claim 5, wherein the panels are connected to the mains inparallel.